CN103732124A - Multi-spot laser surgical probe using faceted optical elements - Google Patents

Abstract

In a particular embodiment of the invention, an optical surgical probe includes a handpiece configured to optically couple to a light source and a cannula at a distal end of the handpiece. The probe also includes at least one light guide within the handpiece. The light guide is configured to transmit the light beam from the light source to the distal end of the handpiece. The probe also includes a multi-spot generator located in the cannula, the multi-spot generator including a faceted optical adhesive having a faceted end surface spaced from the distal end of the light guide. The facet end surface includes at least one facet oblique to the path of the light beam. In some embodiments, the probe also includes a high conductivity ferrule at the distal end of the light guide. In other embodiments, the sleeve is formed from a transparent material.

Description

Multi-spot Laser Surgical Probe Using Faceted Optics

related application

This application claims priority to US Provisional Application Serial No. 61/521,447, filed August 9, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This application is related to co-pending US Patent Application Serial No. 12/959,533, filed December 3, 2010 and commonly assigned with this application.

technical field

The present invention relates to optical surgical probes and, more particularly, to multi-spot laser surgical probes using faceted optics.

Background technique

Optical surgical probes deliver light to the surgical field for various applications. In some applications, it is useful to deliver light to multiple spots in the surgical field. For example, in pan-retinal photocoagulation of retinal tissue, it may be desirable to deliver laser light to multiple spots in order to reduce the time of the pan-retinal photocoagulation procedure. Various techniques have been used to generate multiple beams for multi-spot patterns. For example, one approach uses a diffractive beam splitter element to split an incident light beam into multiple spots that are coupled to multiple optical fibers that deliver the multiple spots to the retina. However, it may also be desirable to have a multi-spot generator that can be placed at the distal end of the optical surgical probe to more easily generate multiple spots from a single input beam so that the multi-spot generator can be more easily integrated with existing laser sources Used together without the need for additional parts to align the laser surgical probe with the source.

Difficulties arise when using diffractive beam splitter elements at the distal end of an optical surgical probe. As an example, diffractive beam splitter elements produce a large number of higher diffraction orders, and although these are relatively lower in light intensity than the main spot pattern, they are not always negligible in terms of their impact. As another example, diffractive elements may behave differently in different refractive index media. For example, if the diffractive beam splitter element is arranged in a medium different from air, such as a saline solution or oil, the recessed parts of the microscopic surface relief structure of the diffractive beam splitter element can be filled with a material with a different refractive index than air, This will destroy the speckle pattern. As yet another example, the spacing between spots may vary for different wavelengths, which may be problematic when the aiming beam is of a certain color and the treatment beam is of a different color. Finally, diffractive elements are often expensive and difficult to manufacture, and where the diffractive element must be configured to fit a small area such as the distal tip of a surgical probe for 23-gauge or smaller surgical instruments The next is even more so. Therefore, there remains a need for an optical surgical probe that can generate multiple spots of light at a target area using optical elements at the distal end of the surgical probe.

Contents of the invention

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a thermally robust optical surgical probe comprising a multi-spot generator with a faceted optical adhesive element. In a particular embodiment of the invention, an optical surgical probe includes a handpiece configured to optically couple to a light source and a cannula at a distal end of the handpiece. The probe also includes at least one light guide within the handpiece. The light guide is configured to transmit the light beam from the light source to the distal end of the handpiece. The probe also includes a multi-spot generator located in the cannula, the multi-spot generator including a faceted optical adhesive having a faceted end surface spaced from the distal end of the light guide. The facet end surface includes at least one facet oblique to the path of the light beam. In some embodiments, the probe also includes a high conductivity ferrule at the distal end of the light guide. In other embodiments, the sleeve is formed from a transparent material.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the drawings and the following description of the drawings and claims.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 illustrates a multi-spot generator with a high thermal conductivity ferrule according to certain embodiments of the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates a multi-spot generator with a transparent sleeve according to certain embodiments of the invention; and

Figure 3 shows a multi-spot generator with a transparent sleeve according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Detailed ways

Co-pending US Application Serial No. 12/959,533, filed December 3, 2010, commonly assigned with the present application, describes a multi-spot optical surgical probe using a faceted optical adhesive. Various embodiments of the present invention provide additional features to facilitate the use of faceted optical adhesives in optical surgical probes. In particular, certain embodiments of the present invention provide thermally robust optical surgical probes using faceted optical adhesives. As described in detail below, certain embodiments of the present invention include additional features to reduce the likelihood of "hot spots" occurring in surgical probes that can result in faceted optical adhesives or bonded ferrules and Adhesive deterioration and/or failure of sleeve.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the ferrule located within the distal end of the probe is modified to improve its ability to conduct heat from the distal tip of the probe. The first modification is to change the material from the commonly used, low thermal conductivity stainless steel to a material with much higher thermal conductivity, such as copper or silver. The material of the ferrule does not have to be biocompatible since it is physically isolated from the exterior of the probe. This allows the selection of non-biocompatible materials such as copper or silver which have a much higher thermal conductivity than any available biocompatible material. Higher thermal conductivity conducts heat more efficiently away from the distal end of the probe. A second modification is the addition of a distal side shield to the cylindrical ferrule, which prevents light reflected from the adhesive face from illuminating the sleeve and being absorbed by the sleeve. Instead, reflected light illuminates and is substantially absorbed by the high thermal conductivity ferrule, which efficiently conducts heat away from the distal end of the probe.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the absorbing sleeve is replaced by a transparent sleeve which transmits the reflected light from the adhesive face into the surrounding area outside of the sleeve. This results in a significant drop in temperature at the distal end of the probe. Because the high-intensity transmitted light directed at the surgeon may interfere with his viewing retina, various means are available to block or eliminate this light, including reflective, diffuse or translucent layers on the outside of the transparent sleeve and An opaque cylindrical sleeve outside and physically separated from it by an insulating air gap. This opaque sleeve need not be made of a high thermal conductivity material, but may be formed of a rigid and strong material such as stainless steel, which provides additional structural strength to the distal end of the probe.

Figure 1 illustrates a multi-spot generator 100 suitable for placement at the distal end of an optical surgical probe, according to certain embodiments of the present invention. In the depicted embodiment, a faceted optical adhesive 104 with a ball lens 106 such as a sapphire ball lens is located within a sleeve 108 . A high-conductivity ferrule 110 holding an optical fiber 112 is located within the ferrule 108 . Optical fiber 112 carries light, such as a laser, from an illumination source (not shown).

High thermal conductivity ferrule 110 (hereinafter "high conductivity ferrule") is formed of a material having a thermal conductivity significantly higher than stainless steel materials typically used in optical surgical probes, which are typically about 15 W/m-K. For the purposes of this specification, "high conductivity" refers to materials having a thermal conductivity in excess of 100 W/m-K. Suitable examples include copper (372W/m-K conductivity), standard silver (410W/m-K) or pure silver (427W/m-K). Because the high-conductivity ferrule 110 is encapsulated within the sleeve 108 by the faceted optical adhesive 104, the high-conductivity ferrule 110 does not have to be made of biocompatible materials, which allows consideration of high-conductivity ferrules not typically used in optical surgical probes. conductivity material.

The high-conductivity ferrule 110 includes a side shield 114 extending distally from an optical fiber 112 . The side shields 114 are oriented to receive light reflected from the facets of the facet optical adhesive 104 . While reflections from the faceted optical adhesive 104 are relatively lower in energy than the incident beam (approximately 5% of the incident energy), such reflections may still create "hot spots" on the sleeve 108 . Given that ferrule 108 is typically formed of stainless steel or other relatively poorly conductive and not highly reflective material, this can cause laser energy to be absorbed, causing excess heat to build up near faceted optical adhesive 104 or to bond ferrule 110 Possibilities near adhesive (not shown) to sleeve 114 . This degrades the performance of the optical surgical probe. The side shields 114 intercept the reflected beams to prevent them from reaching the ferrule, and since the material of the ferrule 110 is highly conductive, any heat generated by absorbing the reflected beam at the ferrule 110 is quickly dissipated, preventing the ferrule from The equilibrium temperature of 110 is significantly increased.

Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of a thermally robust multi-spot generator according to the invention. In the depicted embodiment, sleeve 108 is formed from a transparent material. The material is preferably biocompatible, but if not, the outer surface of the sleeve 108 may also be coated or treated to enhance biocompatibility. Transparent sleeve 108 allows reflected light to pass through sleeve 108 to avoid hot spots. In certain embodiments, the cannula 108 is diffuse so that escaping light does not form a visible light spot that could distract the surgeon. For example, the surface of the sleeve 108 may be made of a translucent material, may be chemically or mechanically frosted (eg, by scratching or acid etching), or may be coated with a diffuse coating. In an alternative embodiment, sleeve 108 is transparent but surrounded by a reflective coating such as silver. The reflective coating prevents light from entering the surgeon's field of view, while still reflecting light away from the faceted optical adhesive 104, allowing easy conduction of heat away from the tip. The outer surface of the silver or reflective coating can be oxidized or coated to improve biocompatibility.

FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the transparent sleeve 108 . In the depicted embodiment, an opaque outer sleeve 120 surrounds transparent sleeve 108 . Opaque outer sleeve 120 may be formed from conventional biocompatible materials, and it is preferably relatively absorbent, although it need not be highly conductive. Outer sleeve 120 is separated from transparent sleeve 108 by an air gap. The air gap provides thermal insulation between the transparent sleeves 108, and the transparent sleeves 108 may also be formed from an insulating material such as glass. Any heat generated in the outer sleeve 120 can be conducted to other parts of the probe or the biological material surrounding the outer sleeve 120 . The thermal insulation between outer sleeve 120 and faceted optical adhesive 104 reduces the likelihood of excess heat building up near faceted optical adhesive 104 .

The present invention has been illustrated herein by way of example, and various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. Although the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. An optical surgical probe comprising: a handpiece configured to be optically coupled to a light source; a sleeve at the distal end of the handpiece; at least one light guide within the handpiece, the at least one light guide configured to transmit a light beam from the light source to the distal end of the handpiece; a multi-spot generator in said sleeve, said multi-spot generator comprising a faceted optical adhesive having a faceted end surface spaced from a distal end of said light guide, said facet end surface comprises at least one facet inclined relative to the path of said light beam; and A high conductivity ferrule at the distal end of the light guide. 2. The probe of claim 1, wherein the high conductivity ferrule is formed of silver. 3. The probe of claim 1, wherein the high conductivity ferrule is formed of copper. 4. The probe of claim 1, wherein the high conductivity ferrule includes side shields that shield the sleeve from reflected light from the faceted optical adhesive. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the high conductivity ferrule has a thermal conductivity of at least 372 W/m-K. 6. An optical surgical probe comprising: a handpiece configured to be optically coupled to a light source; a transparent sleeve at the distal end of the handpiece; at least one light guide within the handpiece, the at least one light guide configured to transmit a light beam from the light source to the distal end of the handpiece; a multi-spot generator in said sleeve, said multi-spot generator comprising a faceted optical adhesive having a faceted end surface spaced from a distal end of said light guide, The facet end surface comprises at least one facet inclined with respect to the path of the light beam. 7. The probe of claim 6, wherein the transparent sleeve is translucent. 8. The probe of claim 6, wherein the transparent sleeve is frosted. 9. The probe of claim 6, wherein the transparent sleeve further comprises a highly reflective coating on an exterior of the sleeve. 10. The probe of claim 6, wherein the transparent sleeve is surrounded by an opaque outer sleeve separated from the transparent sleeve by an air gap.

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